Christina’s Carol is an odd but beautiful book.
Published in 2021, the text of the book is Christina Rossetti’s Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter,” which was first published in Scribner’s in 1872. This is a stately and profound classic, written both for the soul and the ear. It is performed, both as a poem and as a carol, and recordings are widely available. This poem moves to religion and redemption, but starts quite austere.
Tomie dePaola’ illustrations s are lovely, and the design well-paced: we get no words on the first two page spread, only the winter in full effect, with winds bending branches and scarves. The next two pages have only a few more: a stylized image of the poet is shown, indoors, but looking out at the snow, writing the poem we’re reading.
The combination is beautiful, but–and here’s the oddity–I’m not sure this is a children’s book. It is an illustrated meditation upon winter and the divine. I found it quite moving, but it is dense in its meaning.
